Ecopetrol regionalises Colombian operations

­Last week, Colombian state-controlled Ecopetrol created three regional vice-presidencies in a bid to confront the company’s problems with local communities.

The regional seats of the company will be given more responsibilities, and more than 300 employees will transferred to the countryside. The new vice-presidencies are those of Orinoquia, including the prolific Los Llanos basin, Centro, which includes operations at the Barrancabermeja refinery, and Sur, covering the southern part of the country.

“We have to act as a part of the region, not only working in the region but also for the region. We have an important role to play in the sustainable development of Colombia’s regions,” Ecopetrol’s vice-president for exploration and production Hector Manosalva told TOGY.

Colombia’s oil industry has increasingly been experiencing problems with local communities in recent years, as they have been given more veto powers. Some indigenous groups have also been impairing oil production and transport, with the U’Wa group blocking repairs on the Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline from March until May, for example.